


Night-Time Laundry

by artistsfuneral



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute, Modern AU, Modern Fantasy, Musician Jaskier | Dandelion, jaskier owns bunnies, laundry rooms, no beta we die like jaskier never will, nothing much to tag here, this is just a cute au where they meet, witcher geralt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-15 05:13:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29678928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artistsfuneral/pseuds/artistsfuneral
Summary: He was exhausted. But he also stunk like two days spend swimming in sewer water and rat guts and if he wanted to wear this set of armor again, he would need to wash it now. When he opened the heavy basement door though, he was surprised to find that he wasn't the only one awake at this ungodly hour.Across the room, a young man was sitting on the ground, leaning against one of the washing machines and recorded himself making music.---meet-cute fluff, Jaskier is a lovely mess
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 7
Kudos: 123





	Night-Time Laundry

.

It must have been around two in the morning, when Geralt finally made it to the front door of his apartment building. Fumbling for his keys, he leaned against the cold wall to support his weight. Every bone in his body ached and every fiber of his being screamed at him to rest. Yesterday's 'night shift' had turned into two whole days spend in the sewers, tracking and hunting down a series of nests, build by a new crossbreed-monster. Something between a nug and a squid; A hideous thing that had started crawling out of the city's manhole covers a week ago and had taken up all of the witcher's time.

Geralt wasn't just tired. He was exhausted. But he also stunk like two days spend swimming in sewer water and rat guts and if he wanted to wear this set of armor again, he would need to wash it now.

So that's why, when he finally managed to open the door, he went down the stairs into the basement instead of up to his apartment.

The witcher was more than glad for the shared laundry room in the basement of the building, since he moved so much that owning his own mashine had become a luxury he couldn't afford. Not having to spend even more hours than necessary, in public spaces like laundromat stations, was a blessing in itself. When he opened the heavy basement door though, he was surprised to find that he wasn't the only one awake at this ungodly hour.

Across the room, a young man was sitting on the ground, leaning against one of the washing machines and recorded himself making music.

Geralt stopped dead in his tracks and more out of confusion than politeness, quietly sat down his duffel bag and swords.

The man glanced up at him and send Geralt a bright, thankful smile, his quick fingers changing chords, without even looking at the bridge of his guitar. Cornflower blue eyes melted into Geralt's golden cat orbs and for a moment it seemed as if the world around them had come to a halt. Then the other man turned his gaze back towards his set up camera and started to sing again.

> _"I could call you on the telephone,_

> _But do I really want to know?_
> 
> _You're making love now to the lady down the road_

> _No I don't, I don't want to know."_

It was irritating; Never before had Geralt actually liked a voice. Every now and then, there was a band, a singer his sensitive ears could tolerate, but never - never had he been so transfixed by someone. If sirens hadn't gone extinct centuries ago, he surely would have thought the man in front of him to be one.

He could only watch in silent awe, as the man went from singing to humming and then slowly let the last chords echo through the laundry room, before he stopped the recording with clever hands. Then, those blue eyes focused on Geralt again and that bright smile was back.

"Ah, thank you so much for waiting! Usually people aren't that considerate, when I'm playing - hence the time and place. Well that and my insomnia, which is probably also the reason why we haven't met yet. You're the new guy in apartment 3b, right? I live in 3c, it's nice to finally get to meet you! I'm Jaskier!"

That... was a lot to take in, in Geralt's current state. Overwhelmed by the sheer amount of words, he could only blink in confusion at the other man. Which he - Jaskier apparently - took the wrong way. His eyes widened and his fingers started signing, while he spoke, "Oh gods, you're not deaf, are you? Have I been speaking too quickly?"

"Um- no," Geralt managed to answer, his tired brain automatically signing back for a moment, before he stopped himself. "Just tired, had a long shift and wasn't expecting to see anyone down here."

A tiny snort came from Jaskier, "You certainly look like it." As quickly as the words had escaped the younger man's mouth, he had slammed it shut with both hands, eyes growing huge. "Oh, sweet Melitele, that was so rude, I'm terrible sorry!" Geralt, already used to much worse comments, thanks to his 'profession', simply shrugged his shoulders and went over to the one washing machine that was next to a small sink, where he started undressing his armor." You don't mind, do you?" Geralt asked as he pulled his ruined shirt over his head.

"Oh, um- no- uh- certainly not," Jaskier stammered and when Geralt glanced at him, the man was bright red in the face and openly staring at Geralt's naked chest. Something deep inside the witchers chest settled, satisfied. The knowledge that the man with the pretty voice found him... certainly not pretty, but attractive enough to blush, somehow made his rather bad morning a bit better.

Using the sink to get the worst dirt out of his clothes and then off himself, Geralt fell into a mundane rhythm. "Was that your own song? It was good." He didn't need to look to know that Jaskier was smiling again. "Thank you! But no, it was a cover of Santa Monica Dream by Angus and Julia Stone. My friend and I write our own songs, but it's nice to do a cover once in a while. Especially if it's a song that means a lot to us."

Geralt hummed slowly. He had never heard of that song or those people before, but that wasn't too surprising. "Why in the laundry room, though?" Not quite sure, why he was asking, why he cared enough to keep this conversation going, Geralt followed his gut feeling and did it anyways.

Jaskier seemed to thrive under the attention. The man was a chatter box, more than happy to take over most of their conversation, while Geralt only needed to offer a question or another hum once in a while. It was... nice. Even as miserable as Geralt had been, when he had come down the basement, Jaskier managed to make waiting for his laundry a pleasant experience. He even went so far and helped the tired witcher carry up his gear to their floor, despite him having to carry his own set up. In the end, the two said their goodbyes and that could have been it.

It could have been that one, single memory of a morning spend in the laundry room. Something to look back on and wonder what could have happened if.

But it didn't stay that one time. Any other day, Geralt would have tuned out any sounds, comming from neighboring apartments, but when he woke up after roughly ten hours of sleep and heard music, he stopped and listened. A few days later he knew that Jaskier could not only sing and play the guitar, he also knew how to play the violin, the piano and - what must have been - the lute.

Then, one morning, they met again in the hallway and when Jaskier invited Geralt into his apartment, the witcher surprised himself by accepting the offer. As it turned out, Jaskier also owned a harp, a ukulele and two bunnies, that hopped around the living room and took a liking in tormenting the poor witcher; Who was absolutely terrified by the thought of being left alone in a room with two so fragile animals. Jaskier for his part, found it hilarious. "They're just bunnies, Geralt, they won't chew your head off!" Jaskier laughed at him and proceeded to put the two bunnies in the witcher's lap. Geralt completely froze up and stared at the tiny creatures, that snuggled up in his lap. "But Jaskier! They're so tiny," Geralt whined without looking up.

Needless to say, Geralt came to visit Jaskier quite often after that. As impossible as it seemed after years of self inflicted solitude, he found himself wanting to spend more and more time with Jaskier. And it seemed like the musician felt the same.

.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Check out [my tumblr](https://artistsfuneral.tumblr.com/)  
> (also feel free to yell at me for any (spelling) mistakes, I didn't beta this)


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